Dust off those trainers
Evidence shows that people who combine regular physical activity with
calorie-counting are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off.
But not all of us are naturally sporty. In fact, some of us may not have done any meaningful exercise since school. This makes starting again quite daunting and it can be hard to know where to begin.
You can start small by finding ways to fit more activity into your daily life and build up from there.
Try getting off the bus one stop early and walking the rest of the way or taking the stairs instead of the lift.
But as well as being generally more active, you could start setting aside a few days during the week for more structured exercise.
Your target is 150 minutes of moderateintensity aerobic activity each week.
Moderate-intensity aerobic activity means you’re exercising enough to raise your heart rate and break a sweat. You’re working hard enough if you can still talk but you can’t sing the words to a song during your activity.
Brisk walking, bike rides or swimming are great examples, but if these don’t appeal and you need something more structured, you could try one of the exercise plans available on NHS Choices. These are free and can be done at home or in the local park. Crucially, they recognise the limitations of a beginner. They include:
• Couch to 5K – a nine-week running plan
• 5K+ running podcasts for Couch to 5K graduates
• Strength and Flex podcasts – a five-week workout plan
• Ten-minute home workouts – quick and effective exercise routines
Get these and lots more exercise tips at nhs.uk/fitness.
Before you start, plan. Think about whether you need new trainers, where and on which days you’re going to exercise, and when in the day you can fit it in. A little preparation can mean the difference between getting going and making excuses not to bother.
Whatever you choose make sure it’s something you enjoy, or it may be hard to find the motivation to do it regularly.
You may feel a little bit more hungry as you step up your activity levels or start a new exercise regime.
That’s normal. You’re burning more calories, so your body needs to replace the energy spent during exercise.
But be careful how you refuel. A postexercise snack high in calories could actually see you putting on weight instead of losing it. Instead, choose foods that are lower in calories but still filling, such as fruit, low-fat yoghurt or reduced-fat hummus with brown pita.
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